Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

A Romance of Many Dimensions is a satirical novella written by Edwin A. Abbott in 1884. The book is set in a two-dimensional world called Flatland, where the inhabitants are geometric shapes such as triangles, squares, and circles. The story is narrated by a square who lives in Flatland and describes the society and culture of this world, including the strict social hierarchy based on the number of sides a shape has.One day, the square is visited by a three-dimensional sphere from a world called Spaceland. The sphere tries to explain the concept of a third dimension to the square, but he is unable to comprehend it. The sphere then takes the square on a journey through different dimensions, including Pointland (a one-dimensional world) and Lineland (a world of only length).The book is a commentary on the limitations of human perception and the dangers of dogmatism and rigid social structures. It also explores the idea of higher dimensions and the possibility of other worlds beyond our own. Flatland has become a classic work of science fiction and a staple of mathematics and philosophy curricula.There being no sun nor other heavenly bodies, it is impossible for us to determine the North in the usual way; but we have a method of our own. By a Law of Nature with us, there is a constant attraction to the South; and, although in temperate climates this is very slight — so that even a Woman in reasonable health can journey several furlongs northward without much difficulty.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world’s literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.